<\/p>
Lewis Hamilton will not consider retirement after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix<\/a> as he remains the \u201cgold standard\u201d for drivers in Formula 1, according to Sky Sports F1 expert Karun Chandhok.<\/p>\n Despite signing a contract until 2023 earlier this year, Hamilton\u2019s future remains constantly under the microscope with some quarters musing that he could call it a day should he surpass Michael Schumacher\u2019s record of seven Formula 1 world championship titles.<\/p>\n The 34-year-old is currently level with the iconic German driver and finishing above title rival Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi would be enough to clinch an unprecedented eighth crown with the pair locked on 369.5 points each going into the final race of the season.<\/p>\n Chandhok doesn\u2019t believe this will be Hamilton\u2019s final race in Formula 1 for more reasons than just his Mercedes contract on the table.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cNo, because he just loves it. I mean, he just loves driving nice cars and is the gold standard still.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last four races have shown us that Lewis is still the gold standard that the other drivers are aiming to beat.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he comes back to win this championship, I think it\u2019ll be his second best ever, but certainly the best one of the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n That raises an obvious question. If this wouldn\u2019t be Hamilton\u2019s finest hour, which season takes that honour? For Chandhok, Lewis\u2019 early years remain up there with his very best in the sport.<\/p> He said: \u201cI still go back to his first two years in Formula 1 which, for me, were the most impressive in so many ways.<\/p>\n \u201cHe arrived as a rookie on the world stage alongside Fernando Alonso and he was stunning, absolutely stunning. Then you come to 2008 when he won the world championship with huge pressure on him.<\/p>\n \u201cHis first world championship remains, I think, his best. At such a young age, he had to take on the pressure of a title battle. [If he wins in 2021] I would say this is probably his second best. The most impressive thing with Lewis is when I went to testing in pre-season before the first race, I stood on the side of the track and the Mercedes did not look good.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really didn\u2019t look like a good car, but he\u2019s plugged away and the greatest drivers win the races that their cars aren\u2019t meant to. Bahrain in round one was a classic example of that. Interlagos, coming from 10th is an amazing win.<\/p>\n \u201cSaudi, with that broken front wing, the fact that he went back and re-passed Max and was miles ahead of Bottas.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a sign of greatness and the fact that his motivation hasn\u2019t waned. He\u2019s been racing for 28 years yet you see him jump out of the car and you see him deliver those qualifying laps and it\u2019s still like it\u2019s his first race. He\u2019s still pumped up.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our\u00a0<\/b>TV Guid<\/b>e<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or visit our Sport<\/a> hub.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Michael Potts Published: Friday, 10 December 2021 at 12:00 am Lewis Hamilton will not consider retirement after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he remains the \u201cgold standard\u201d for drivers in Formula 1, according to Sky Sports F1 expert Karun Chandhok. Despite signing a contract until 2023 earlier this year, Hamilton\u2019s future remains constantly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":8497,"template":"","categories":[7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-wont-retire-if-he-wins-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-but-it-wouldnt-be-his-best-season-either.jpg",1024,683,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-wont-retire-if-he-wins-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-but-it-wouldnt-be-his-best-season-either-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-wont-retire-if-he-wins-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-but-it-wouldnt-be-his-best-season-either-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-wont-retire-if-he-wins-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-but-it-wouldnt-be-his-best-season-either-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-wont-retire-if-he-wins-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-but-it-wouldnt-be-his-best-season-either.jpg",800,534,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-wont-retire-if-he-wins-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-but-it-wouldnt-be-his-best-season-either.jpg",1024,683,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-wont-retire-if-he-wins-abu-dhabi-grand-prix-but-it-wouldnt-be-his-best-season-either.jpg",1024,683,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Michael Potts Published: Friday, 10 December 2021 at 12:00 am Lewis Hamilton will not consider retirement after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he remains the \u201cgold standard\u201d for drivers in Formula 1, according to Sky Sports F1 expert Karun Chandhok. Despite signing a contract until 2023 earlier this year, Hamilton\u2019s future remains constantly…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/8496"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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